The term ''edelfrei'' or ''hochfrei'' ("free noble" or "free knight") was originally used to designate and distinguish those Germanic

noblemen Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteristi ...

from the Second Estate (see

Estates of the realm The estates of the realm, or three estates, were the broad orders of social hierarchy used in Christendom (Christian Europe) from the Middle Ages to early modern Europe. Different systems for dividing society members into estates developed a ...

social hierarchy), who were legally entitled to

atonement Atonement (also atoning, to atone) is the concept of a person taking action to correct previous wrongdoing on their part, either through direct action to undo the consequences of that act, equivalent action to do good for others, or some other ...

reparation of three times their "

Weregild Weregild (also spelled wergild, wergeld (in archaic/historical usage of English), weregeld, etc.), also known as man price (blood money), was a precept in some archaic legal codes whereby a monetary value was established for a person's life, to b ...

" (Wergeld) value from a guilty person or party. Such knights were known as ''Edelfreie'' or ''Edelinge''. This distinguished them from those other free men or free knights who came from the

Third Estate The estates of the realm, or three estates, were the broad orders of social hierarchy used in Christendom (Christian Europe) from the Middle Ages to early modern Europe. Different systems for dividing society members into estates developed and ...

social hierarchy, and whose atonement reparation value was the standard "Weregild" (Wergeld) amount set according to regional laws. In the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

, the "high nobility" (') emerged from the ''Edelfreie'' during the course of the 12th century, in contrast to the so-called ''

ministeriales The ''ministeriales'' (singular: ''ministerialis'') were a class of people raised up from serfdom and placed in positions of power and responsibility in the High Middle Ages in the Holy Roman Empire. The word and its German translations, ''Minist ...

'', most of whom were originally unfree knights or '.Karl Bosl: ''Die Gesellschaft in der Geschichte des Mittelalters.'' 4. Auflage. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1987, {{ISBN, 3-525-33389-7, p. 56. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

''edelfrei'' or ''hochfrei'' meant, in simple terms, that someone was a member of an ancient, dynastic aristocratic line. Free noble families were independent of legal obligations of a secondary nature, and they were not subordinated to any other families or dynasties, apart from the king or emperor. The modern concept of aristocracy (''Uradel'') must not be confused with the term ''edelfrei'', since the former term's scope is much broader: all families that can prove they belonged to the knightly aristocracy by no later than around 1400 (whether originally ''edelfrei'' or ''ministeriales'') are counted today as ''Uradel'', i.e., the aristocracy. Many ''edelfrei'' families submitted themselves during the course of the

to more powerful

feudal lords Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...

; these families are commonly referred to in the literature as "originally edelfrei". This submission did not always happen under duress. Many

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerai ...

s attained high positions in the courts of their lords, and vassal service was often very lucrative. Especially at the time of territorial expansion and the emergence of a

monetary economy Monetary economics is the branch of economics that studies the different competing theories of money: it provides a framework for analyzing money and considers its functions (such as medium of exchange, store of value and unit of account), and it ...

, many ''Edelfreie'' were dependent on the protection and support of a powerful secular or ecclesiastical lord. And vice versa: a dependent relationship existed, in that larger territories could only be secured and managed with the aid of loyal vassals. The number of ''edelfreie'' families was limited. A new social order, the ''

'' now arose rapidly. These officials, who were mostly unfree in their origins, managed within a century to elevate themselves to the lesser nobility. The differences between ''ministeriales'' and the old aristocratic families began increasingly to blur. For many aristocratic families that were originally ''edelfrei'' there is therefore no reliable evidence of their dynastic origins.

References

Nobility of the Holy Roman Empire